Seat Light and Backlit Plaque Holder
A seat light and plaque holder including a seat light base having a downwardly angled mounting surface and an upwardly angled mounting surface with a first plurality of LEDs mounted on the downwardly angled mounting surface and a second plurality of LEDs is mounted on the upwardly angled mounting surface. A light cover is attached to the seat light base having a row marker positioned thereon to be backlit by the second plurality of LEDs and an end portion of a length selected to shield the downwardly angled first plurality of LEDs from view of persons walking up or down an aisleway while directing illumination towards an aisleway.
This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/232,335, filed Aug. 7, 2009, entitled, “Seat Light and Backlit Plaque Holder,” the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND1. Field
The subject disclosure relates to lighting and lighting fixtures and more particularly to a self-contained LED light fixture particularly useful in a seat-mounted aisle and stairway lighting configuration.
2. Related Art
In the past, aisle lighting has been used in theatres and other venues for assisting patrons in ascending and descending aisles, stairways, and the like.
SUMMARYThe following is a summary of various aspects and advantages realizable according to various embodiments of the invention. It is provided as an introduction to assist those skilled in the art to more rapidly assimilate the detailed discussion which ensues and does not and is not intended in any way to limit the scope of the claims which are appended hereto in order to particularly point out the invention.
In an illustrative embodiment, a seat light and plaque holder comprises a seat light base having a downwardly angled mounting surface and an upwardly angled mounting surface. An LED shroud containing a circuit board and a first plurality of LEDs is mounted on the downwardly angled mounting surface, while a second plurality of LEDs is mounted on the upwardly angled mounting surface. A light cover is attached to the seat light base and has a row marker positioned thereon to be backlit by the second plurality of LEDs. The light cover further has an end portion of a length selected to shield the downwardly angled LEDs from view of persons walking up or down an aisleway while directing illumination towards the aisleway. The positioning of the LEDs and shape of the cover thus cooperate to direct light down toward an adjacent aisleway, while concealing the shroud and LEDs from normal view.
The features of the present disclosure will become more apparent with reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and in which:
A seat light and plaque holder 11 according to an illustrative embodiment is shown in
In one embodiment, the light base 21 is a single piece molded or cast component designed to attach to the side of a theatre aisle seat or other surface. The light base 21 further mounts a backlight LED circuit board 23 and positions the backlight circuit LED board 23 to backlight a row marker 25 or other plaque with light passed through a diffuser 27.
The row marker 25 is mounted in a light cover 29, which is further designed to direct illumination from the LEDs 30, 31, 32, 33 onto an aisle way, while at the same time concealing the shroud 19 and the LEDs 30, 31, 32, 33 from normal view. In the illustrative embodiment, the light cover 29 is a single piece molded or cast part and includes a generally rectangular frame portion 113, which has opposite parallel flat sides 26, 28 having straight back edges 32, 34 which flushly abut the light base 21 when the unit is assembled.
The light cover 29 further contains a rectangular well 115 for receiving and holding the rectangular plaque 25. As noted, the plaque 25 carries an indicator such as a row marker comprising alpha and/or numeric indicia, which is backlit by a number of LED's 24 to enhance its visibility.
In one illustrative embodiment, the front surface 35 of the aisle light LED circuit board 17, shown, e.g. in
As shown in
The first angled mounting surface 45 has first and second mounting holes 61, 63 which receive screws 165, 168, which engage tabs 52, 54 to fasten the light cover 29 to the mounting surface 45. The backlight circuit board 23 mounts on the second angled planar mounting surface 48 which positions the circuit board at an angle β (
As also seen in
As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6-10, the lower edge 67 of the circuit board shroud 19 has a tab 69 formed thereon, which has a mounting hole 71 positioned to concentrically align with another mounting hole 73 formed in the lower planar surface 41 of the light base 21. Thus, a single fastening device 167 can be used to attach the board shroud 19 to the light base 21. Suitable screws or other fastening means may be inserted through holes 120 to fasten the light base 21 to a mounting surface such as a seat sidewall 101, as shown in
One embodiment of an aisle light LED circuit board 17 is illustrated in further detail in
Power to both LED circuit boards 17, 23 may be supplied via a quick disconnect connector for ease of maintenance. In one embodiment, power is supplied to the two backlight and aisle light circuit boards 17, 23 by a wire harness 213, as shown in
The wire harness 213 enters through a steel conduit 170 (
In one embodiment, the base plate 21 and cover 29 may be die-cast aluminum, the shroud 19 may be polycarbonate and the diffuser 27 and marker 25 may be acrylic. Other suitable metals, plastics, or composites could of course be used for various components in various alternate embodiments.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the just described embodiments can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In particular, the various values for dimensions of illustrative embodiments set forth above may differ in alternate embodiments. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.
Claims
1. Light fixture apparatus comprising:
- a seat light base having a downwardly angled mounting surface and an upwardly angled mounting surface;
- an LED shroud containing a first circuit board mounting a first plurality of LEDs, the shroud being mounted on said downwardly angled mounting surface;
- a second circuit board mounting a plurality of LEDs, the second circuit board being positioned on said upwardly angled mounting surface; and
- a light cover mounted to said seat light base and having a marker positioned thereon to be backlit by said second plurality of LEDs and having an end portion of a length selected to shield said first plurality of LEDs from view of persons walking up or down an aisleway, while directing illumination towards said aisleway.
2. The light fixture apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first circuit board is positioned flush against parallel horizontal rims located on an interior surface of said shroud.
3. The light fixture apparatus of claim 2 wherein the front surface of each of said first plurality of LED's lies flush with a front surface of said shroud.
4. The light fixture apparatus of claim 1 wherein said downwardly angled surface lies at an angle of 20 degrees to the vertical.
5. The light fixture apparatus of claim 1 wherein said seat light base has a flat back surface.
6. Light fixture apparatus comprising:
- a seat light base;
- a first plurality of LEDs positioned to direct light downwardly;
- a second plurality of LEDs positioned to direct light upwardly; and
- a light cover mounted to said seat light base and having a marker positioned thereon to be backlit by said second plurality of LEDs and having an end portion of a length selected to limit the visibility of said first plurality of LEDs to persons walking up or down an aisleway or other path, while directing illumination generated by said first plurality of LED's toward said aisleway or path.
7. The light fixture apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first plurality of LED's are mounted on a first circuit board which is positioned flush against parallel horizontal rims located on an interior surface of a shroud.
8. The light fixture apparatus of claim 2 wherein the front surface of each of said first plurality of LED's lies flush with a front surface of said shroud.
9. The light fixture apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first circuit board is mounted on a downwardly angled surface lying at an angle of 20 degrees to the vertical.
10. The light fixture apparatus of claim 1 wherein said seat light base has a flat back surface.
Type: Application
Filed: May 26, 2010
Publication Date: Feb 10, 2011
Patent Grant number: 8061870
Inventors: Dennis Pearson (Foothill Ranch, CA), Guang Jin (Santa Monica, CA)
Application Number: 12/787,814
International Classification: F21S 4/00 (20060101);